Volunteering at Immanuel Church Of Christ – A Community Service story

I am interviewing Jacob Moore, a 20 year old from Maryland who recently relocated to Pittsfield MA. Jacob has very fond memories of his time spent volunteering for the Immanuel Church Of Christ.

He primary volunteered here before he moved in Winter of 2014. Jacob did lots of things during his duration here, from serving hot food, dishes, cleaning, and what he finds most memorable, greeting and getting to know the guests.

There was one guest in particular who he always looked forward to seeing, his name was Bob. Bob was a sweet older gentlemen who had been struggling finically after his heath began to decline and he lost his wife to cancer. Jacob sparked up a conversation with him one evening when he saw him sitting alone and they became fast friends. Jacob told me that Bob really reminded him of his grandfather who had passed, and perhaps that is why this particular instance resinated so much with him.

Jacob also loved the satisfaction of knowing that his hard work was putting food in hungry peoples bellies. Nobody should ever have to go hungry, under any circumstances. He was just happy to help in anyway that he could. He even learned a few awesome recipes including a chili one that he still uses today.

Since relocated to Pittsfield Jacob hasn’t done any volunteering but he looks forward to doing so during the summer months. He thinks this time around he might look to volunteer in an animal shelter.

The Inspiration

His step mom, Robin was the person who originally inspired him. Jacob didn’t really attend church regularly until he was introduced to Robin’s church but when he did he was pleasantly surprised. He was greeted by lots of friendly other church volunteers and also by the people he was serving.

The reasoning behind why he volunteered was simply because it was a good thing to do. For not only the community, but for himself. Ensuring that people have some basic nutritional needs met is crucial to their health and overall well being. We take for granted being able to put food on the table sometimes that we don’t stop to think about the people who aren’t able to do this as easily as we can. Which is why its so important to always try and get out and volunteer some of your free time.

I am interviewing Jacob Moore, a 20 year old from Maryland who recently relocated to Pittsfield MA. Jacob has very fond memories of his time spent volunteering for the Immanuel Church Of Christ.

He primary volunteered here before he moved in Winter of 2014. Jacob did lots of things during his duration here, from serving hot food, dishes, cleaning, and what he finds most memorable, greeting and getting to know the guests.

There was one guest in particular who he always looked forward to seeing, his name was Bob. Bob was a sweet older gentlemen who had been struggling finically after his heath began to decline and he lost his wife to cancer. Jacob sparked up a conversation with him one evening when he saw him sitting alone and they became fast friends. Jacob told me that Bob really reminded him of his grandfather who had passed, and perhaps that is why this particular instance resinated so much with him.

Jacob also loved the satisfaction of knowing that his hard work was putting food in hungry peoples bellies. Nobody should ever have to go hungry, under any circumstances. He was just happy to help in anyway that he could. He even learned a few awesome recipes including a chili one that he still uses today.

Since relocated to Pittsfield Jacob hasn’t done any volunteering but he looks forward to doing so during the summer months. He thinks this time around he might look to volunteer in an animal shelter.

The Aha! moment…

Jacob learned more than he ever really could’ve imagined by volunteering. Not only was it a personally rewarding experience for him, but it taught him a lot about people and his outlook on life in general. Learning about the backgrounds of all these different people, and he was surprised finding out that some come from very professional past titles. Some were past teachers, veterans, among many other titles.

Working in this kitchen really destroyed any biased opinion that Jacob had prior. Seeing that these people weren’t any different than he was was truly an eye opening moment for him. Jacob felt foolish for even going into this experience with these biased thoughts but even after speaking with just one of the people there, he realized the the cycle of poverty is vicious and that he should make judgements based on the opinions of others.

To summarize it in three words…

Fulfilling , Eye opening, Fun

Why should you do this

Jacob says he would recommend anyone try volunteering! Especially in a soup kitchen type setting like he did, he thought that this was exceptionally rewarding because of the overall experience and being able to talk with people. Not only is a personally rewarding experience that will make you feel good, for doing something great, but you are able to put food on the table for someone who might’ve gone hungry without it.

We think of food to be something that is so abundant in our country, and yet millions and millions of people and children go to sleep hungry every night. That fact alone should be enough to make you want to volunteer alone.